Mr X and University College Dublin

• Judge: Stephen Rafferty, Senior Investigator
• Judgment Date: 25 November 2015
• Case Outcome: The Senior Investigator found that UCD was justified in its decision to refuse access to the records sought. He affirmed UCD's decision.
• Court: Information Commission
• Record Number: 150240
• Respondent: University College Dublin

Whether UCD was justified in its decision to refuse access to temperature logs of the freezer and refrigeration units at the National Virus Reference Laboratory (NVRL) recording the temperature readings at 2.5 minute intervals under section 15(1)(a) of the FOI Act on the ground that no such records exist

Conducted in accordance with section 22(2) of the FOI Act by Stephen Rafferty, Senior Investigator, who is authorised by the Information Commissioner to conduct this review

Background

The applicant submitted a request to UCD on 6 November 2014 for all documentation held by the NVRL concerning laboratory tests carried out on his blood samples in 2011. UCD granted access to a number of records on foot of that request. On 13 January 2015 UCD received a letter from the applicant which stated that he did not believe that all records relating to the laboratory requests carried out had been released to him. He stated that he anticipated receiving records relating to the handling and storage of his blood specimen, including the temperature log information for the freezer and refrigeration units in which his specimen was stored. On 27 January 2015 UCD released a temperature log of all freezer and refrigeration units in the NVRL to the applicant between 1 December 2011 and 7 December 2011 recording the temperature at 10 minute intervals.

In his request for internal review dated 23 February 2015, the applicant referred to documentation that indicated that temperatures were taking every 2.5 minutes, and he sought "a whole and complete account of the temperature readings, every 2.5 minutes between 01/12/2011 - 07/12/2011". UCD issued its internal review decision on 16 March 2015, refusing the applicant's request for the temperature logs sought under section 15(1)(a) of the FOI Act, on the basis that no records exist with a greater level of details than those which had been released. The applicant sought a review by this Office of UCD's decision on 29 July 2015.

In his application to this Office the applicant referred to three categories of documentation still to be released to him. Mr Art Foley of this Office wrote to the applicant on 9 October 2015 explaining that the scope of this Office's review would be limited to a review of UCD's decision in relation to the temperature logs, given that this was the basis for the applicant's internal review request.

Mr Foley later wrote to the applicant on 30...